Exercise machine shave become apart of the modern everyday routine. This phenomenon is evidenced in the demand today for fitness centers, at-home exercise and weight machines, and various other exercise-related products. Many of the available multi-use exercise machines are large, heavy, not easily moveable, and space-consuming. Consumers with space limitations in their homes may not wish to take up a large portion of a room to dedicate to fitness equipment. In addition, the designs of these large machines lend to high cost of manufacturing, and thus unaffordability for many consumers. Although there are various smaller exercise machines available, these tend to focus on a limited number of muscle groups, and do not provide versatility for a multi-faceted exercise routine.
Another limitation of many available exercise machines is their relatively large difference between each degree of change in resistance. For example, if a user wishes to increase or decrease resistance, he is often required to alter the current setting by a difference of 5 or 10 lbs., or perhaps to a higher or lower “level” as preset by the equipment manufacturer. This may not be ideal for physical therapy, for those of a smaller frame, or in any situation in which a small increment of resistance change is desired.
One available device called the MyGym System, see https://www.buymygym.com/, allows for a variety of exercises to be performed. The MyGym allows for variable resistance through the use of various elastic bands, where one elastic band may offer a different resistance level from another elastic band. Thus, the design requires a number of elastic bands to provide the variable resistance, in addition to the number of elastic bands needed to provide for various exercise postures. This results in many elastic bands being included within the device compartment, and, along with the weight of the compartment itself, lends to a still relatively bulky exercise apparatus. In addition, although there is variable resistance available to the user by choosing one or a combination of the different elastic bands, the apparatus does not offer any sort of small or incremental adjustment of resistance.
Hence, it is desirable to have a solution, without the above-described disadvantages, such as an exercise apparatus with finely adjustable resistance, versatility of use, and ease of portability. As will be seen, the invention provides such a solution in an elegant manner.